What running for office has taught me about my neighbors: Jill S. Bartoli

After talking with folks, young and old, at their doors and around their kitchen tables, I feel renewed in spirit and hopeful about the future.

By Jill S. Bartoli

Knocking on the doors of people in my hometown of Carlisle and in the surrounding communities of Silver Spring, Plainfield and Newville, has given me renewed faith in the basic common sense and good will of fellow human beings.

People have welcomed me into their homes when it was freezing cold to warm up, or when it was blazing hot to cool down.

They have shared their concerns about our public schools, our roads and bridges, the need for more living wage jobs and affordable healthcare, and the need for collaboration and consensus building.

They have also shared their worries about the kind of world we are leaving to our children and grandchildren:

Will their public schools and teachers be supported adequately?

Will higher education be affordable and accessible?

Will they have clean air to breath and clean water to drink?

Will their roads and bridges be safe?

Will they have opportunities for a full and happy life?

As parents and grandparents we have serious concerns about the inability of those in public office to work together for the common good of our children and grandchildren.

We worry about the disengagement and disillusionment of too many of our 18- to 34-year-old Millennial youth, who are so full of talent and promise.

When I share our plans for a Millennial "Take Back Your Future" event at the end of the summer, both younger and older citizens agree on the importance and need for youth engagement in our political process.

So much of what has been happening makes no sense, and we need our bright young minds with their sensible solutions that go beyond sound bites and political points. For instance:

A 21-year-old greeted me at the door with " I think the government and corporations should stay out of our personal decisions and rights."

She was upset with politicians who talk about less government, yet create regulations to limit women's rights over their own bodies and impose their religious views on others.

A 26-year-old said "Government should do what we can't do for ourselves." He thought supporting public schools and universities, expanding Medicaid and raising the minimum wage to a living wage were good examples of what government can do, and he added, "Seattle raised it to $15. an hour, and it hasn't slid into the Pacific.

Youth are rightfully discouraged. A 19-year-old who decided against becoming a teacher said, "I've watched my mom come home in tears because she couldn't meet the needs of the 39 students in her class."

She saw her mother-- a committed, creative teacher—become overburdened by mandated standardized testing, matching curricula and test prep drills, impersonal data management and increased class sizes that prohibit good teaching. So she will not go into the teaching mine field.

A savvy senior citizen told me he was sick and tired of being sick and tired—sick of the endless fighting and obstructionism of politicians and sick of no real solutions to problems.

And he was tired of the same old blaming of teachers and regular workers, many of whom haven't seen a real pay raise in years, for the economic problems resulting from tax breaks and loopholes for gas companies, hedge fund traders and other billionaires, and large corporations.

Another senior asked why citizens shouldn't get a tax holiday, like the state took (which got us into the pension crisis), and why we're attacking the pensions of workers who faithfully paid their fair share every year, and ignoring the profiteering of those who make 300 times the pay of their workers.

After talking with folks, young and old, at their doors and around their kitchen tables, I feel renewed in spirit and hopeful about the future of our country. We are in a bit of a funk right now—we all get that.

But the way out and ahead is through engaging all of us in the process of developing common sense policies that serve the needs of everyone.

Together we can solve our seemingly intractable problems. We have no shortage of bright, creative ideas from our youth, and seasoned, experienced ideas from our elders. Let's just do it: listen to the voices of the people.

Our basic human decency and concern for our neighbors can guide us. Those who are strongly rooted in their faith remind us that the theme that runs through all major faith traditions was once put on a black and white billboard: It said, "That thing about your neighbor—I meant that." And it was signed, "God."

Jill Bartoli, a Democrat, is a candidate for the 199th House District. In accordance with our policy, PennLive is allowing political candidates one op-Ed for the November election cycle. Ms. Bartoli will not appear in these pages again until after the general election.